BENGALURU: Infosys has started working on new software platforms to ensure differentiation from other top-tier rivals as part of the broader goal of India’s second largest software exporter to touch $20 billion in revenue by 2020, while conceding that some of its recent bets in areas such as artificial intelligence are at a "very early stage" and will take time to bear fruit.

In a recent interview, Infosys’ head of platforms Abdul Razack said that the company was working on a brand new knowledge-based engineering platform that will have "the ability to capture the knowledge and reuse it in other areas".

It will also enhance a mobile platform that the company snapped up through its acquisition of Skava earlier this year, he said. Razack said Infosys has doubled the number of customer projects where its automation platform is being used, from 30-odd in June.

"From an automation perspective there are two broad areas that we have — one is automation of packaged systems, for which Panaya is an acquisition we made back in February and which has been progressing very well. The second area of automation is around Infosys Automation Platform, where we are doing over 60 customer projects," said Razack, who is a key member of CEO Vishal Sikka’s A-team.

"On the data processing platform we have around 128 engagements — we see a lot of momentum on this and we are very excited about this," he said. With some of its recent bets on software platforms that can solve complex business problems for large customers such as Bank of America and Procter & Gamble, Infosys is already starting to differentiate itself from some of its rivals.

This is evident from its forecastbeating performances in the past two quarters. "With initiatives like this, we are already starting to see the first signs of creating differentiation," said Razack.

Infosys, which is currently infusing capabilities such as machine learning and artificial intelligence into its data processing platform – the Infosys Information Platform – however conceded that the company still has a long way to go in terms of harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence to solve complex business problems. "To be honest, we’ve just scratched the surface – in my opinion, we have a long way to go to really harness the power of AI," said Razack.

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